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Steps

Part 1

Cutting the Sock

1

Select a suitable sock. You'll need a good quality, long sock. It needs to be long, to accommodate the dog's body. The longer, the better as it will provide all the pieces you need.

If the sock proves to be too short, you will need to use scrap materials for the ears, tail and legs. It's not a problem if you'd rather use different materials anyway.

2

Lay the sock down on a suitable work surface. Cut off the toe end.

3

Cut the toe end in, at a left leaning angle. This will leave you with two pieces to form the dog's ears. Put to one side.

4

Cut away the body piece from the rest of the sock. Just a little over halfway down the length of the sock (the part that doesn't form the toe end), cut the sock. This will remove the end and forms the dog's body piece.

When determining how long to make the dog's body, bear in mind that the cut-off section must be sufficient to form the dog's legs and tail pieces (see next). This is why a long sock is essential.

5

Use the cut-off piece to create the tail and leg pieces.

Cut a piece straight across that measures about 2 inches (5cm). This forms the tail piece. Cut into a tapered piece with a wide base and a thin tip, just as a dog's tail looks.

Cut the remaining piece into four equally sized squares. These will form the leg pieces.

Part 2

Stitching the Sock Dog

1

Stitch along the cut portion of the toe end. This closes off the front end of the dog, its head.

2

Stuff the sock firmly. Fill with your filling of choice, such as craft supply fill or homemade fill made from scraps, pantyhose, etc.

3

Stitch along the open sides of the tail piece. As you stitch, follow the taper of the tail so that it is larger one end and has a small tip at the other end. Leave a small section open for stuffing. Stuff it with filling, then stitch together.

When stuffing the tail, use a needle to help push the filling right up into the tip. The filling will help the tail to stand upright when attached to the dog.

4

Form the legs. Sew the square pieces together, making them as rounded as you can for the legs. Leave a small portion and fill with stuffing then sew together.

As you stuff the legs, pull them into roughly the same shape each and use the filling to round out the leg shape.

5

Attach the tail. Place the tail at the end of the dog (what was the open leg end). Have the wide end against the dog's body and the thin tip facing up into the air, forming a convex arc (like a bowl). Stitch in place.

Be sure that the stitches are firm. Pull on the tail to test its resilience and add more stitches if needed.

6

Attach the legs. Place the four legs evenly around the base of the dog's body and stitch in place.

Part 3

Adding Features

1

Decide whether to embroider the sock dog or add embellishments. Or, you could use a combination of both. Either is fine.

2

Add eyes. You could either embroider eyes in place, just simple black circles or a large white circle with a small black circle for the pupil. Or, stitch buttons or googly eyes in place.

3

Add a smiling mouth. This is easy to either embroider on or to glue on a red felt smile cut from felt fabric.

4

Add a nose. Either embroider a black or brown nose tip or sew on a craft nose or a button.

5

Finish up. If wished, make a ribbon loop around the dog's neck, using wide ribbon for a collar. You could even attach a small metallic disc for a dog tag. Or just tie the ribbon in a bow, to beautify the creation.

Community Q&A

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Tips

When selecting the sock, it is recommended that you choose a sock that has an interesting pattern and/or coloration that you'd like to see the dog have.

Fabric markers could be used to add facial features. Just check that they'll show up over the socks coloration or pattern.

Be sure to clean the sock before turning it into a sock dog.

The results of this sock dog will vary depending on the size and type of sock used. Some sock dogs will have larger heads, some smaller ones; some will have longer or shorter bodies and some may be leaner or fatter, all depending on the sock fabric, texture and size.

Things You'll Need

Long and quality sock of your choice

Filling (either bought from craft store or use your own cloth/pantyhose style filling, or even more unwanted socks)